Lirael's New Task
by Introspective
Summary: It starts with a BATTLE if only a small one and introduces a new character. It is set just after the Destroyer so Lireal is still relatively young. My first Fanfic so something may have gone wrong :-P
1. The Battle

Disclaimer: On purchase of his Books Garth Nix asserts the moral right to be the author of the work and so he is. He owns the fictional world and its characters. This is a fanfic just like all the others. I did invent the characters not mentioned in any of his books though.  
  
The Tavern was bright and welcoming beside her, the sound of raucous laughter and good times being had echoed through the night. The merriment inside the glowing room was not being transferred to the night outside. It was dark and cold; a frail breeze drove through the fog that came swirling off the river about half a mile to the Taverns left.  
  
Lirael was waiting with great apprehension. She knew the stilken must come this way; it had been following her, it would have to come towards her. She was wishing and hoping that the damn creature would arrive. It was a cold night by the river and very dark, the moon was a slither of pearly white and the stars were veiled with mist. She could feel something, it was coming this way, and only it didn't feel like free magic, it was dead. Lirael was ready though Saraneth in one hand and her knew charter sword in the other. Now she could see it, a mordicant, it was bounding towards her covering ground with impossible speed. She readied herself standing right and firm getting ready to use both sword and bell, her mind opening up her memorised version of the book of the dead and quickly thinking of the best way to kill such a powerful undead. Just as the mordicant was about to strike Lirael started to get a sickening feeling in her stomach, the stilken was closing in too. She began parrying blows from the mordicant its undead flesh ripping as it hit the singing steel, marks running over the blade. She turned quickly to parry a blow by her head, but just as she did she could feel the sickening bile rising into her throat. The stilken appeared out of the mist. It began to run towards Lirael, but someone got in its way, Lirael was too occupied to see whom. Sparks erupted from the stilken, its arms flailing wildly, as it attacked this new threat. Lirael couldn't see who the person was, but they must have been either very brave or very foolish to take on a stilken by themselves. The mordicant was being beaten back despite Lirael's distraction at the newcomer. She thrust the sword into the creature one last time, making sparks jump away and dance on the cobbled street as she switched bells; she needed Kibeth to make the mordicant walk back beyond the final gate. The clear voice of an Abhorsens bell broke the stillness of the night for miles around; the clarity of the marching tune sang a pure song. The two creatures cried out trying to get away from the sound, the inevitability of being controlled, being bound to walk beyond the ninth gate. Lirael had directed her will at the mordicant which, with its body mangled quickly returned to death. With her foe now gone Lirael stopped to look at the stilken. The man (for she could make out that much) who was battling the stilken was barely visible between the fountains of sparks that raged around him. It was obvious that he was beating the creature and by the time Lirael had drawn Saraneth the stilken was nothing but a dark liquidy mass squirming on the ground, he had used a binding spell to break its body, she still rang Saraneth making the liquid squirm even harder before disappearing entirely. 


	2. A Childhood of Regret

Authors note: Well I wrote some fan fic stuff when Lirael came out, but never published it I then wrote some more stuff after Abhorsen came out, so I kind of continued where I left off, but it was quite difficult to make ends meet. Anyway, I've kind of done it in flash backs thats what the means, kinda entering someone's memory. I am trying out different things at the moment; I know my previous layout was bad so hopefully I have made this better. As for the next chapter it is coming, but the past few evenings I've had masses of work to do, but hopefully it'll be up on the weekend.  
  
There he stood the boy she had met when she was just a girl in the glacier. He stood tall, breathing deeply, the vapour rising like silver from his mouth to dissipate into the dark night. His hair still the same length and colour, his eyes still dark and his face clean-shaven. The gold and red Royal bloodline surcoat emblazoned with the hammer and anvil of a forger stood proudly on his chest, but apart from that he wore no bright colours. He still had his mail shirt, but it fit him now, the mail sleeves resting at his elbows and a jumper beneath. The scabbard now at his waist rather than across his back, the sword he held by his side point facing down, but his grip was still strong on the hilt. He would never release his grip on that blade.  
  
"Lirael?" He spoke uncertainly.  
  
"The boy." she whispered, she was only just remembering her memory desperately searching to remember who he was.  
  
"Was that your Mordicant then." She said loud, but not loud enough for the people by the Tavern to hear as she walked towards him.  
  
"Yes, and that was your Stilken. We were planning to do the same thing." He said with a half smile and lifted the magical steel from his side and rested it into the scabbard. The villagers now watching the pair were completely shocked. Lirael tilted her head to one side slightly.  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"That is a question that I cannot answer here. You should talk to your audience now you have their attention; I was never very good at speeches. If you want to talk we could meet at your house Abhorsen." He said and disappeared off into the darkness from whence he appeared.  
  
It was true she only just realised her audience was there, but she no longer wanted to talk with them as she had wanted before the attack, her mind was elsewhere. She gave her speech to them, but she knew it lacked her conviction. But after what they had just seen the party were too troubled to notice. Free magic in their village didn't seem possible. To Lirael free magic was and would always be everywhere. She now longed to get back to the house. So much in fact that she used her owl charter skin to get to the house that very night. As she flew through the cool night air she remembered who he really was.  
  
Lirael rounded a corner in the lower levels of the old library to suddenly see a boy, he was just about to round the corner, but in the other direction. The Dog beside her had smelt him, but hadn't said anything to Lirael. He was about the same age as her around 14, average height, quite slim, but with broad shoulders. His hair was long, black and straggly falling over his shoulders, but stopping quite soon. His eyes were dark and the pupils large. He didn't wear the kind of clothes a son of a merchant might wear. Neither did he look like one of the many guards or guards in training; they had short-cropped hair and stayed in the refectory. He had a sword, not strapped to his waist, but diagonally across his back, the hilt sticking up over his right shoulder. He was wearing a padded leather jerkin with short sleeves so Lirael could see longer chain mail sleeves coming down past his elbows. He had the long sleeves of a woollen jumper covering from his elbow to his wrist. He had long baggy pantaloons though his chain mail shirt fell halfway down his thigh and walking boots along with a large travelling cloak swung over his shoulders.  
  
"A kindred spirit I see." The Dog said after a small pause and in that knowing way.  
  
"It talks!" The boy started and took a step back.  
  
"Who are you?" Lirael commanded suddenly afraid that he might tell someone about the Dog.  
  
"I was lost. That's all." He quickly recited.  
  
"You got this far without seeing anyone to ask, that was fortunate." The Dog disbelieved.  
  
"It's not a real dog." He whispered a strange awe in his voice. He walked slowly over to the dog and put his hand out to touch it, but Lirael stepped in front of the Dog.  
  
"Where are you trying to go?" Lirael quickly asked.  
  
"The...er...um library." He stammered.  
  
"Visitors aren't allowed in the library without permission." Lirael said importantly suddenly very aware of her yellow waistcoat.  
  
"I just got lost." He said quickly and quietly. Lirael was getting uncomfortable.  
  
"It's like a charter sending or something, a strange creation." He continued trying to look past Lirael.  
  
"Don't worry Lirael he arrived this morning, he comes from far away and no one would believe him about a talking dog." The Dog spoke again, looking up at Lirael. The truth in the Dogs words brought the boys head down and took some of the confidence out of him.  
  
"You'd better go, if you know the way back that is." Lirael said looking back at the dog.  
  
"What's behind these doors there full of charter magic, and I can't feel what's beyond." The boy asked suddenly looking at he nearest wooden door he was not daunted by Lirael.  
  
"Nothing. More books." Lirael said coldly. Her plans for going through another door that afternoon were not going well. The Dog began to sniff the air.  
  
"Someones coming." It said quietly.  
  
"You had better get back to the refectory." She whispered hastily at this remark the boy started to make his way back down the passageway. Lirael jogged over to a door she knew as being safe and waved her bracelet with the emeralds glowing to unlock it."  
  
That was the last she had seen of him for about 6 years, yet he was unmistakably the same boy, but now a man. 


	3. Traveller

Authors note: Firstly an apology, I uploaded the wrong effing chapter. It took me a full ten minutes to realise this before I took it down, but for a reason unbeknown to me it stayed up for approximately another day, before the chapter was finally taken off the web. I'm sorry especially to my reviewers, and yes you may call me an incompetent sht. Now that I've confused you all lets carry on.  
  
After disappearing into the darkness the man named Rellevart had headed for the River to the west of the Tavern. Rell as he shortened it to, was an orphan; he had been left next to the fire in a traveller's camp when he was only two years old. For a long time he hadn't known anything about his past or his parents. He wasn't really adopted by one family, like previous babies had been (abandoning unwanted children with traveller's in some parts of the old Kingdom was common), but he had been adopted by the whole band of traveller's and had grown up a traveller through and through. His name was a little joke, by his family, it was traveller backwards.  
  
He was running parallel with the river south, to where his boat was. His mind was racing, just like his feet, he had to remember both the past and present of his situation. From their meeting at the glacier till now, he needed everything straight in his head before he asked Lirael for this favour.  
  
He had found out Lirael's name by way of asking the refectionary staff after their brief encounter. After that he had been travelling round with his adopted family for a few years, staying and helping his traveller family. When Rell turned 18 he decided to leave his family and headed out on his own journeys and adventures. He had travelled to Belisaere to quench his thirst of knowledge about his past. He became a blacksmith, in Belisaere and that is why he had the surcoat on, but this was just to fund his research about himself and his family. He realised that he was of royal blood, but it was so watered down that by the time it came to him it was barely worth calling it royal blood, the blood began with Touchstone's great grandfather had a cousin that followed a long line of people down to himself. He was quite proud that he was of Royal blood however thin it may be. He had also unknowingly been looking at the Abhorsen and Clayr lines as they followed Royal line, so after a bit more researching and some reading of books he had guessed that something wasn't right within these chains. It was only much later when Lirael had been named the Abhorsen in waiting that he had realised what was missing.  
  
Still he was pleased with his own families finding's he needed to find, his father a man named; Bardon and his mother Hila. So for the next few years of his life he was on the road again. He had travelled a long time trying to find them to no avail, but that was before he new Lirael was Abhorsen in waiting.  
  
His boat silently slipped through the water, he was relaxing at the rudder, his mind thinking all this through, not sure whether what he was doing was right, even in his own head. He was coming close to Abhorsen's house as dawn was breaking. He didn't want to get too close to the Island, after all it was very close to the waterfall, so he aimed the boat at the shore and with a satisfying crunch of shingle underneath the bow the boat was grounded. He pulled everything he needed out of it before attaching a rope to the bow and tying one end to a small tree. He then put a binding spell on both the boat and the rope. He had been given the boat as a wreck and he had managed to make it float, so as long as it did that, Rell didn't mind too what much it looked like, even so he didn't want to lose it even though sooner or later he would need to disband it anyway.  
  
Setting his sights on the house, which was about 45 minutes away and set off. 


	4. The House

Authors Note: Still sorry for that hicup earlier. You've mad me feel guilty now. I have to sit here and write until you forgive me.  
  
Lirael using her owl charter skin had arrived at the house sometime after midnight. She landed in the garden and felt too exhausted to even get to her bed. Lirael fell asleep in the lower parlour that night and woke just early enough to see the man jumping from stone to stone to get across the River. The sendings had covered her in a blanket and taken away her cloak, she now took that for granted at the house. When he looked up to see Lirael already standing on the house's doorstep he looked a little disappointed.  
  
"How did you get here so fast?" Rell asked just after making the final leap to the island that Abhorsen's house was built on.  
  
"Oh I have my ways." She said slyly.  
  
"How did you get here?" She asked surprised at his speed.  
  
"Boat. I left it a little way upriver." He said quickly. They walked silently back up to the house. They entered silently and went up the main steps into the body of the Abhorsen's house. The sendings began to crowd round them, taking cloaks, swords and packs.  
  
"I expect you'll want some sleep." Lirael said casually walking towards the staircase.  
  
"No, I'm alright thanks." He said quickly, feeling a little out of place and not a little tired.  
  
"Well, lets have some breakfast, then you can tell me what happened." Lirael said smiling, she continued up the stairs and Rell followed taking in the wonderment of being inside the legendary house. Only ever families of the Abhorsen usually got to see inside it.  
  
"There are bedrooms and showers here. I will be upstairs and then we can have breakfast." She said, looking at the bemused boy infront of her. He had seemed so mysterious the night before, but somehow we had slightly lost that edge to him.  
  
"Wait, sorry what is your name?" She asked just about to leave.  
  
"Most people call me Rell." He said tentatively.  
  
"Fine, I'll see you in a minute Rell." Lirael said, she just wanted to know what it felt like to say. Lirael then disappeared up to the Abhorsen's bedroom, which Sabriel had offered her since the binding of the destroyer.  
  
Rell had been amazed at how clean and proper the house was, everything was completely immaculate, he had either lived on the road or grotty pubs and inns for most of his life so this was luxury beyond belief. He had never felt so clean, or smelt so nice before now either. His hair was tied back, he was in proper clothes that the sendings had offered him (despite his own intentions to wear his travelling gear) and there were oils and liquids in the shower that he had never seen before. It was all too wierd. Still he had arranged to come here himself, and began to remember why he had.  
  
Rell was waiting on the landing as Lirael came down the stairs, she rushed them, but Rell thought she looked both graceful and beautiful. Her ebony hair was tied back, she was in flowing robes and looked all the better for not wearing a bell bandoleer. "Now for breakfast." She said excitedly as she reached him. 


End file.
